Education

The Shelby County Board of Education closed one building project and opened another during Thursday’s meeting at the district’s offices.

The board closed out a series of purchase orders on the Collins High School building project to complete the majority of that project. The direct purchase orders were used to save the district more than $800,000 by using its tax-exempt status.

Cornerstone Christian Academy again is leading the way with ACT scores higher than the county, state and national averages.

Cornerstone, a private school, located at 3850 Frankfort Road, reported a composite score of 23.1. Although down from last year’s 25, the score still outpaces the county’s public school average of 18.8, the state average of 19.8 and the national average of 21.1

Shawn Allen Sr. had a dream: academic success for African-American young people.

As parent of several students in Shelby County Public Schools, Allen has become familiar with the strengths and opportunities available to help students succeed. His own children have benefitted from creative teaching methods and extra-curricular activities in local schools.

But Allen’s dream reached beyond championing benefits for his children alone. He said he wanted to close the achievement gap and to increase academic successes for Black students.

The Shelby County Board of Education will take a look at the present, past and future at Thursday’s 7 p.m. meeting at the district’s offices, 1155 Main Street.

The board will look to approve the district’s working budget after setting the tax rate for the 2012-13 fiscal year at 71.5 cents per $100 of assessed value on real estate and personal property tax, a 2.6 percent increase.

Concerns about grades of high school student athletes has prompted the formation of a committee to study the issue.

When the topic was raised at the meeting of the Shelby County School Board on Thursday night, board member Brenda Jackson said she was concerned that student athletes are allowed to participate in sports as long as they have a “D” average.

“I question letting athletes play with a ‘D’ as a passing grade,” she said.

An arrest in August of a Shelbyville man who spanked his 5-year-old son, a student at Painted Stone Elementary School, and left bruises on him, has raised the question about when spanking is appropriate discipline and when it is criminal.

When Gov. Steve Beshear signed an executive order Tuesday to place all the technical centers under the same Department of Education umbrella as the career and technical programs within high schools, many wondered how the move would affect the Shelby County Area Technology Center on Rocket Lane.

If you have been following the coverage of the Republican National Convention in Tampa and wondering if anyone from Shelby County was there to watch the nomination of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for president and vice-president, rest easy that a couple of their neighbors were in the swing of things, even when the threat of a hurricane was looming on the horizon.

In a first-it-failed-but-then-it-passed vote that occurred after one board member’s comments persuaded another to change her vote, the Shelby County Board of Education voted to raise the real estate and personal property by 2.6 percent.

After about a dozen people spoke at Thursday’s meeting – all but one against the increase – the board voted down the 1.8-cent increase, 3-2. Brenda Jackson, Allen Phillips and chair Eddie Mathis voted against, and Doug Butler and Sam Hinkle voted in favor.

Because of enrollment much greater than predicted, Shelby County Public Schools is adding new teachers.

The biggest need has come at the elementary level, where Painted Stone, Heritage and Wright each have added one full-time teacher. The schools’ Site-based Decision Making Councils have the charge of deciding where that teacher is most needed.

Adding those teachers also has required that the schools reorganize some classes.